Assistant professor Soil Carbon Cycling (tenure track)

Job description

Are you an Earth scientist/ecologist with expertise and interest in soil carbon cycling, in relation to the role of soil microbial communities therein? Then this could be your opportunity to join our research exploring the interactions between abiotic and biotic components of the environment, and how these function in a changing world. IBED/ELD seeks for two tenure tracks in the field of Earth System Science, one focusing on Soil Carbon Cycling and a second in Environmental Chemistry. For the current position we are looking for expertise related to one, or more, of the following research areas:

Interactions between organic carbon and the mineral soil;

microbe-organic C interactions;

molecular and computational approaches for analysing soil microbial communities and their functionality;

scaling of soil carbon cycling processes from microbe to globe;

linking global carbon cycle models and laboratory experiments.

What are you going to do?

You are expected to publish in high-profile journals and attract your own external funding. You will spend roughly equal amounts of your time on research and teaching, and you will contribute to the teaching programmes within the Faculty of Science, the BSc Future Planet Studies, and the BSc and MSc degree programs in Earth Sciences, specifically the courses Plant-Soil Interactions, Desertification & Land Degradation, Grand Challenges of Human-Ecosystem Interactions, and the Field Course Geo-ecological Dynamics. We offer mentoring and courses to support your career development. In the medium term (5-years’ time) you are expected to make a significant contribution to the organization of education within the institute, such as becoming the director of a BSc or MSc degree program.

Key performance indicators in both research and education will be monitored and will serve as input for a transparent evaluation process following institute guidelines, and UvA Science Faculty and general VSNU criteria, which will lead to a decision as regards tenure. Assuming your tenure track is successful, you will be offered a permanent staff position as an associate professor depending on the level of development. A subsequent personal career path can be mutually agreed upon. We are also happy to consider applications with a more senior profile than that of assistant professor. In that case, reduction in the length of the tenure track and/or entry at associate professor level are possibilities that can be tailor-made.

Skills and experience should complement existing expertise within the Department of Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics. Demonstration of an ability to work collaborative and the potential to establish research links with academics within IBED, with other institutes within UvA’s Faculty of Science, and with other national and international universities and institutes will be regarded positively by the interview panel.

Specifications

Requirements

You hold an PhD in Earth sciences, soil science, microbial ecology, or a closely related field and have a few years of post-doctoral experience;

you have a track record of publishing in international scientific journals and have experience of applying for external research grants;

you are familiar with laboratory and/or field research and have worked with modelling approaches;

you are able to supervise PhD and MSc researchers and hold a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) or are willing to obtain this in order to contribute to our educational programs;

you thrive when working as part of a multidisciplinary team;

your organisational and communication skills are well-developed.

Conditions of employment

We offer a position as an assistant professor for 38 hours a week. The vacancy is in principle for a five-year tenure track and an initial appointment that lasts one year longer. At the start an advanced agreement will be signed between the university and the candidate, based on “up or out”. It specifies the tenure-track requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to assess after three and five years including a promotion. The requirements in this agreement are negotiable and depend on experience and scientific profile of the selected candidate. After a positive assessment at the end of the tenure track the position will become permanent. If not the appointment will end one year later. This position is classified in the function profile Assistant Professor at level 2 or 1.

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be Other € 3,637 to € 5,656 gross per month (salary scale 11/12), based on full-time (38 hours a week), exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8,3 % end-of-year bonus. A favorable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Besides this we offer you:

outstanding scientific guidance;

frequent monitoring of progress by a line-manager;

mentoring and courses to support your career development;

reduced teaching load during start-up phase;

possibilities for a flexible work schedule including working from home;

assistance in job searching for your partner;

assistance in enrolment for local child care facilities;

help in finding appropriate housing;

reimbursement package for relocation;

adjustment of tenure track in case of parental leave;

made-to-measure Dutch language course.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look at our website.

Employer

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Department

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 6,500, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is one of eight research institutes of the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam. The research at IBED aims to unravel how ecosystems function in all their complexity, and how they change due to natural processes and human activities. At its core lies an integrated systems approach to study biodiversity, ecosystems and the environment. IBED adopts this systems approach to ecosystems, addressing abiotic (soil and water quality) and biotic factors (ecology and evolution of plants, animals, and microorganisms), and the interplay between those. The IBED vision includes research encompassing experimental and theoretical approaches at a wide variety of temporal and spatial scales, i.e. from molecules and microorganisms to patterns and processes occurring at the global scale.IBED has arranged its scientific organization into four research departments:

Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics (ELD)

Freshwater and Marine Ecology (FAME)

Evolutionary and Population Biology (EPB)

Theoretical and Computational Ecology (TCE)

About ELD

The Department of Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics (ELD) currently comprises about 11 senior scientific staff members, and a considerable number of Postdocs and PhD candidates, and is supported by technicians of the well-equipped Laboratory & Infrastructure Department. ELD aims to improve our understanding of the functioning and dynamics of abiotic and biotic components of (geo-)ecosystems across landscapes through time. Key areas of research within ELD include Earth surface science, biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, landscape ecology and palaeoecology. ELD uses a systems science approach and works at four inter-disciplinary research themes:

Biogeochemical cycles in the critical zone

Biodiversity and geodiversity in the tropics

Spatial and temporal scales of terrestrial processes and patterns

Mitigation of environmental degradation and adaptation to global change

Research in ELD is carried out using a combination of state-of-the-art laboratory research and (long-term) field studies. IBED offers advanced and up-to-date research facilities, including an analytical chemistry lab with GC-MS, LC-MS/MS, LC-QTOF, IRMS, CSIA, ICP, culture facilities for microorganisms, plants and animals, a GIS studio, and high-performance computing facilities.